Hon Chairperson, hon Minister and Deputy Minister, the House and guests in the gallery, I greet you again in the name of freedom, fairness and opportunities, as prescribed by the Values Charter of the DA.
Recently, we witnessed the violent attacks that claimed the lives of foreigners here in South Africa. When this tragedy reoccurred, it should have become clearer that the ANC-led government has failed to control the influx of illegal foreigners, failed to educate South Africa about the role foreigners played during our struggle, and failed to protect the human rights of foreign nationals. Indeed, this is a testimony on how you are failing millions of South Africans, every single day.
We know South Africa is a better place to live in than it was before 1994. As leaders of our society, we need to question our weaknesses and failures, but not in a manner that serves to score political points over one other.
The failures of the Department of Home Affairs have weakened our freedom. The recent violent attacks against foreign nationals in our country are living testimony to this. We, as the DA, condemn this in every possible sense. Violent attacks on any person, be it a legal or illegal immigrant, are unacceptable. No good comes from violent behaviour. This serves only to advance the interests of hooligans and gangsters.
The Minister has failed to invest in border security and in resourcing the inspectorate. Minister, you don't need crime intelligence to give you the reasons for the violence long after the violence starts. We have one crisis after the next in immigration. Yet, you see fit to invest only 15% of the budget in Immigration Affairs. This department has been under-resourced for many years and the poor results are starting to show.
Hon Minister, 333 000 people have overstayed their visas, since 2010. Where are these people and why has your department not traced them? Why could they not be repatriated? Not even your own department can put a figure to it. How are you taking responsibility in your own department? This is a complete failure on your part.
Minister, tell South Africans that the Lindela Repatriation Centre is overcrowded, with appalling living conditions. It is about time you admitted you are struggling to manage the numbers. Your department has a notorious track record when it comes to human rights violations and noncompliance with the Immigration Act. That is why the High Court has ruled against your department many times, costing the taxpayer millions of rand in legal fees. That is not contained in your speech. You skipped it!
Tell South Africans the truth. They need to know and they have the right to know. Like many of your ANC peers in the other departments who have wasted the money of our people, you could have used the money to tackle our biggest issue and the biggest problem of South Africa, which is to employ more youth and create job opportunities.
The Minister omits the fact that, recently, the Constitutional Court ruled that a prisoner held in custody must not be deported to face the death penalty in Botswana. The Department of Home Affairs ignored that order and deported him anyway. Why? What consequences are there for those involved in this violation of the court ruling and the human rights of the individual concerned? To date, your Department of Home Affairs has remained silent. When are you going to take responsibility for your own department?
The recent, newly introduced immigration regulations are still having a negative impact on our tourism industry. When coupled with the negative image that the recent xenophobic violence has had on our country, the tourism industry is heading for some very turbulent times ahead. Our future is in jeopardy, in this regard.
Our country is hugely dependent on the billions of rand that are being generated in the tourism sector. Thousands of jobs are now at stake. What, then, is your department's plan, Minister, to undo the damage and make South Africa an easier destination to visit? We need this capital. The DA has written to the Tourism Complaints Officer, Mirriam Setwaba, to investigate and address this department and its draconian visa regulations that will come in into effect on 1 June 2015.